THE WORLD CUP line-up is complete after Costa Rica sealed their spot in Qatar.
A strike in just the third minute from Joel Campbell sent the Central American side on their way past New Zealand in the final qualification play-off.
New Zealand fought well but Costa Rica lived up to their billing and got off to a flying start through Campbell.
17-year-old Jewison Bennette raced down the left and fired a low cross which Campbell beat the New Zealand back line, which included former West Ham man Winston Reid, to prod home a first time finish.
New Zealand fought back with Alex Greive firing wide shortly after the opener.
Newcastle’s Chris Wood endured a frustrating evening, seeing a penalty claim waved away before, one minute later, his goal was ruled out for a foul by teammate Matthew Garbett in the build-up following a VAR review.
After the interval, New Zealand were once again undone by VAR as substitute Kosta Barbarouses was shown a red card for his challenge on Francisco Calvo.
The ten men continued to fight and Clayton Lewis forced a flying save from Keylor Navas.
Despite being a man down, New Zealand bombarded Costa Rica late on.
Wood had his own chance to level things up inside the final five minutes but could not get the ball under control before shooting.
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Costa Rica, who reached the quarter-finals at Brazil 2014, will join Germany, Spain and Japan in Group E when the World Cup kicks off in November.
They will face Spain on November 23, Japan on November 27, and then finish the group stage against Germany on December 1.
The World Cup gets underway on November 21 with Qatar vs Ecuador and Senegal vs Netherlands.
Source: The Sun